Time Warp Again

More than just a funky film about a callow couple held captive by a transvestite mad scientist, featuring a youthful Susan Sarandon cavorting in her underwear,The Rocky Horror Show, the 1975 cult classic, is a live show too. The musical was originally written for the stage, and that's the way fans (and virgins) can enjoy it at the Shores Performing Arts Theater.

Prancing about are all the favorites: sweethearts Brad and Janet, plus the outrageous Frank-N-Furter and his gang. Although the production is set in a dignified theater, audience participation is encouraged. If hard-core fans don't bring props, they can buy suitable items in the lobby.

Of course the rules for participation are a bit different here. While spectators may dance and sing with characters -- and recite "talk-back" lines -- the management requests the audience toss confetti instead of rice during the wedding scene. Food props are forbidden. Also theater honchos suggest pocket flashlights be swayed during the designated song -- no lighters or matches. Skip the squirt guns and water balloons too. But feel free to carry a newspaper to cover your head. And bring party hats, noisemakers, and bells.

For those who would rather sit back and relax, there's plenty to enjoy. "The music is a lot of fun. It gets your toes tapping and gets you humming," says Paul Lasa, who plays Brad and appears at one point wearing only underwear, glasses, and loafers.

A key part of the show, onstage and possibly off: kinky costumes including chains and corsets that would delight fetishists. Actors might differ: Daniel Bonnett, who plays Frank-N-Furter, singing and dancing in six-inch heels, says he needed practice in the women's shoes. So he did his laundry in them. Still, it's a challenge, he says: "I've been naked onstage and that's a lot easier than walking around in those heels!"